Maybe you love soccer and have dreamed of coaching. Maybe you are a parent who has stepped up to coach your child’s team because no one else would. Maybe you are just helping out when you are available. No matter the situation, you are reading this for a reason. What are the basics for becoming a youth soccer coach? Let me put your mind at ease. With a little planning and preparation, and a lot of patience and enthusiasm, you can successfully wade into the waters of coaching youth soccer.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR ROLE AS A COACH
The first thing to understand is your role as a youth soccer coach.Let’s start off by making it very clear what your focus is NOT. You are not there to go undefeated. You are not there to develop players for MLS. You are not there to ride one kid, who is the star of the team, to a league title.
What you are there to do is to try to develop a love for the game in your players, teach fundamentals, celebrate success, win some games and keep them safe.
It is essential that you get organized prior to the season and keep that organization going through the season. Half of your challenges will lie in organization and communication. The on-field coaching is the fun part. However, that takes organization and planning too.
What it boils down to is your role is a mentor. You will have a team full of children looking to you for guidance and direction. They watch everything you do and listen to everything you say – even when you think they are not listening. Just know you are always on stage.
KNOW YOUR AGE GROUP AND LEVEL
The age level and group you are coaching will determine a lot about what you have to do to prepare. Youth soccer is divided up into various levels – typically recreation (town based league), travel and club (being the highest level).
The level you are coaching will determine what specific qualifications you will need. Usually coaches at the rec level just need basic coaching certifications, which is a background check and a fundamental first aid type of course. Most recreation programs do not require soccer-specific training. Travel coaches usually are required to obtain some base soccer certification – through either a state program or a national program. The United States Soccer Federation provides certification programs from Grassroots (the basic level usually required to coach travel) to the highest level of certification. This is the U.S. Soccer Coaching License pathway. Check out https://learning.ussoccer.com/.
ESSENTIALS TO GET STARTED
Before practices start, contact your league representative to see what equipment they have for you. At the very minimum, they should have balls (practice and game balls), cones and pinnies. If your league doesn’t have many resources, you can get cones and pinnies easily at sporting goods stores or online.
You should also have a basic medical kit that has first aid supplies.
A key component is setting up an app to help manage schedules and communication. Having an app that all parents have allows you to easily communicate and update them on practices and games in a quick and efficient manner.
PRACTICE PLANNING
Again, depending on the level you are coaching it is important to have long term (unit plans) and short term (lesson plans) practice plans. Your long term goals are fundamentals that you hope to accomplish by the end of the season. The short term goals are goals for each individual practice.
Long term goals are what you are building toward. Having them also allows you to properly plan out each practice. Typically, you will focus on one key area per practice. Higher levels can handle two or even three goals per practice.
Structure drills, teaching components and scrimmages around a focus. Make sure you are organized with a featured warm up, skills and drills and competition. Map everything out to the minute to eliminate down time and boredom. Keep the players moving for the entire practice session with structured breaks. The more organized you are, the better practice is.
COMMUNICATION AND COACHING STYLE
Communication with players is a fundamental component of effective coaching. Players will feed off of the way you communicate. Be positive and enthusiastic but not fake. Players see through that. Be true to who you are and make an effort to connect with players.
One on one conversations go a long way. Just making coaching points to a player individually makes much more of an impact than screaming and yelling instructions to the whole group. Obviously, not everything can be one on one but make an effort to coach individually as much as possible. And know what makes your players tick. If a player does not respond to tough love, figure out another approach. You have to quickly learn what makes your players tick.
Communication is crucial to success. Explain why you are doing a drill. Explain why you are running certain plays. Coaching is teaching.
WORKING WITH PARENTS
Parents can be your biggest fans or your worst enemies. Most will tell you the down side of coaching is dealing with parents. Open and honest communication with parents goes a long way.
First of all, a team app is essential in this day and age. Set it up early and get as many practices and games on the schedule as soon as possible. Being organized lessens the anxiety of the parents. Many are juggling hectic schedules and they want to know when games and practices are.
If you are confronted by a parent, deal with them in a calm and rational manner. Most parents are only watching games through the lens of their kid. Some are not realistic of their child’s athletic ability. As hard as it may be, listen to their concerns and assure them that you have the best interest of the child in mind. Tell them you are putting them in the best position to be successful. If they are not equipped to be a shortstop, explain why they are being put in another position to succeed.
You are always coaching to win the game, but the level of play will determine to what extent you go. The lower the level, the more playing time everyone gets. If you are at a level that demands equal playing time, structure it in a way that is balanced and where all of the players can experience some level of success. As you move up in levels and age, equal playing time doesn’t come into play as much.
Know your personnel. Make sure you know players strengths and weaknesses. Practice is where you work on their weaknesses. Games are when you cater to their strengths.
Be organized. A lot goes on during a game – especially in free flowing games like soccer and basketball. Have a playing time plan in place ahead of time. This alleviates a lot of stress. Obviously, that can change during the game but having a blue print before the game allows you to focus more on in-game decisions and less on playing time.
COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID
- Overcoaching – The kids are there to play. Let them play.
- Micromanaging – You can’t control everything. Be organized but allow for some flexibility with assistant coaches and players.
- Playing Favorites – It’s easy to fall in love with the one running back who can run over everyone and score five TDs a game. The problem is, you have 10 other players on the field who are watching one kid play. There is a time and a place to give the kid the ball, but exhibit balance. You are there to develop everyone. There are kids on your team who will mature later and will pass the one stud. Their development is just as critical.
- Not Being Organized – I can’t stress this enough. Have a long term and short term plan. Be prepared for every practice and game.